I missed Book 2 of this series after greatly enjoying book 1. Mr. Hawksley writes about Rake Ozenna and his family and friends realistically, without mythologizing or hammering on poverty and cultural dissolution of their arctic life. That's what I liked about Book 1. But I think that Mr. Hawksley is stumped by the difficulty of continuing Rake Ozenna stories in this narrow location and cast of characters. So here, and perhaps in the previous book, he tries to move Rake into the larger geopolitical arena as a counter terrorist agent. There is a lot of competition in this space, and I am not sure Rake can survive. This book was a bit thin for my taste. Good, but perhaps not good enough.

I received a digital review copy of "Man on Fire: Rake Ozenna 3" by Humphrey Hawksley from Severn House through NetGalley.com. ( )

So this is kind of one of those political thrillers that could give you nightmares because it’s close enough to sounding like something that could happen in real life. This is book three in the Rake Ozenna series. I will admit that I haven’t read the first two books, so I can feel that missed history. The plot of this story pits Rake Ozenna against his longtime Russian super assassin adversary. With Russia pulling the strings on a plan to unleash a massive EMP attack on Western Europe that will cause society to unravel, and therefore elevate Russia’s position in the world stage. There’s a lot going on in this story, so much so it almost could have been longer and more detailed to round out the fine details. It does have its moments of heart pounding action though, and those kept me on the edge of my seat. Overall, this is an exciting political thriller set in present time, using the political climate of the world today in a most effective way to instill maximum scare factor for the reader. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )